The defeat and death of the evil Wulfgar should inspire a time of rejoicing throughout Eutracia. But Prince Tristan grieves. Not only is his beloved wife dead, but across the Sea of Whispers, in the island fortress known as the Citadel, Wulfgar’s bride, the sorceress Serena, plots to continue her husband’s nefarious plans, aided by the Scroll of the Vagaries and the advice of the otherworldly Heretics. Although the ranks of Tristan’s faithful soldiers were decimated in recent battle, the prince nevertheless plans a bold surprise attack.

But on the eve of the mission, disaster strikes. From behind the towering azure wall of magical energy in the forbidding face of the massive Tolenka Mountains comes Xanthus, a powerful warrior dispatched by the Heretics to bring Tristan into their mysterious realm. A master of a mystical martial art against which even the great swordsman Tristan is helpless, Xanthus launches a reign of terror against Eutracia’s innocent subjects, compelling Tristan to journey behind the azure wall. There, in a magical land as beautiful as it is violent, Tristan will learn the shocking truth about the destiny he and Shailiha, his sister, will share.

In Tristan’s absence, Shailiha must lead the fleet of Black Ships against the Citadel, accompanied by the wizards Faegan and Wigg and the beautiful pirate queen Tyranny. But unknown to them, Serena has prepared a deadly trap with hellish creatures summoned by the Heretics. And as Shailiha’s troops sail blindly into danger, Serena is preparing a spell unlike anything the world has ever seen–a spell powerful enough to defeat death itself.

This month's Book With Buzz: "The Lying Game" by Ruth Ware
From the instant New York Times bestselling author of blockbuster thrillers "In a Dark, Dark Wood" and "The Woman in Cabin 10" comes Ruth Ware’s chilling new novel. See more

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Prince Tristan is the currently ruler of the land of Eutracia, and has recently been victorious in the battle against the evil Wulfgar of the Island Citadel.

While the Eutracian people celebrate their victory, little do they know that Wulfgar's equally evil widow, Serena, is plotting her revenge against the people who killed her husband. With the aid of the Magical Heretics, she will devise a plan so heinous that no one will see it coming until it's too late, with an army of creatures of pure evil and suffering at her beck and call.

As she carefully plots her next move, the Heretics send the Darkling known as Xanthus, a half-human, half-magical being, for Prince Tristan. Xanthus will stop at nothing to persuade Tristan to go with him, including torture and murder of the Eutracian people. As Tristan finally succumbs to Xanthus' demands, his sister Shailiha, finds herself at the helm of an all-out attack on Serena and the Citadel.

But will she and her army of wizards and magically gifted allies know in time the enormous opposition that is awaiting them, or will Serena be victorious in her cunning plans??

This is the second book in Robert Newcomb's The Destinies of Blood and Stone Series, however, as someone who hasn't read the first book, Savage Messiah, I found it worked well as a stand-alone novel also.

This novel is a good read, taking the reader into a land of magic where good and evil will collide in the greatest battle of all time.

However, I felt that the writing was not strong in that the descriptive words in the narration were not of a high standard. Throughout the book, there is a strong sense of repetition in the descriptions (for example, one particular word may be used a number of times in the one paragraph or on the one page, which can come across as weak writing). I found that this gave an overall sense that the book was somewhat childish in its writing technique.

I enjoyed reading this book over the weekend very much. I have read the four predecessor books to this one, and enjoyed all of them. They include:

Book 1. The Fifth Sorceress

Book 2. The Gates of Dawn

Book 3. The Scrolls of the Ancients

Book 4. Savage Messiah

Of the 4 above, Savage Messiah was the only one to disappoint me. While reading it I felt like the first three quarters of the book could have been eliminated since it was so boring (and probably unnecessary). But the last quarter of it was worth the read. By the way, I read the book in a little over an hour at Barnes and Noble. So I didn't waste my money.

March into Darkness answered a lot of unanswered questions I had from reading the first four books. I learned much about The Ones who practice the vigors and the Heretics that practice the vagaries. I learned both live on the other side of the world cutoff from the lands of Eutracia and the Parthalon. And I learned much about the scrolls of the vigors and vagaries. Now that Faegan has them BOTH indexed, they are mere cookbooks with many recipes that can be conjured.

I'm sure I would not have enjoyed the book as much as I did if I had not read the 4 predecessor books. The main characters in this book (Tristan, Shailiha, Xanthus, Wigg, Faegan, Tyranny and Serena) were great to learn about further as the story progressed. But I was hoping to learn that Faegan would overcome being a cripple. And I was hoping that Tyranny and Shailiha would have each developed a love-interest with someone. Unfortunately these things did not happen.

My favorite part of the book was following Tristan from one scene to another, especially while he was with Xanthus and while being educated by the Ones and the Heretics.

I would have liked the book better if Tristan had not been so caught up in K'Shari (martial arts) and been more involved in beginning to learn some magic. But that will probably consume the first half of the sixth book which I suspect will lead into Tristan approaching the Heretics and bringing peace between the Ones and the Heretics. Who knows? 5 stars!